Books and proctors back in Saucon budget

Board restores more than $200,000 in cuts to preliminary $32.8 million spending plan.

June 07, 2005|By Kevin Pentón Of The Morning Call

Hall monitors would still patrol the halls of Saucon Valley High School next year under a budget modified by the district school board Monday that restores more than $200,000 in earlier cuts.

By a show of hands, the board voted 5-3 to restore more than $100,000 in salaries that were not included in a $32.8 million preliminary budget it adopted last month.

The salaries for the hall monitors, who also take attendance and are referred to as proctors, were the largest part of cuts the board restored to its budget on Monday. At the same time, board members zeroed in on new areas to save, eliminating one position and some athletic equipment.

Business manager David Bonenberger could not provide a precise figure for the budget's new size, saying it will be posted later this week on the district's Web site, www.sauconvalley.k12.pa.us.

Last month's preliminary budget set the millage rate at 45.637, a 14.1 percent increase from this year's figures. The district's initial $35.1 million budget would have raised the millage rate 25 percent, to 50.15 mills from 40.01 mills.

Each mill represents $514,873 in revenue for the district.

Under the preliminary budget, homeowners would have been charged $45.64 for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

On Monday, the board also restored $78,745 in curriculum and staff development programs and tens of thousands of dollars for books and other supplies, but left out of the budget $42,441 in athletic equipment and a $31,000 position for a person responsible for making copies.

"We recognize that [school principals] will do their best to not spend all those dollars," said board President Linda Krentz of the money restored for books and other supplies.

Resident Victor Zarelli took issue with some of the restored expenses, saying school directors needed to trim some fat so taxpayers can afford to pay their property tax bills.

"The school budget is astronomically increasing at an abominable rate," Zarelli said.

Saucon Valley Middle School Principal Harry Krammes defended the restoration of funds for books and other supplies, saying some of the proposed budget cuts had been too deep.

School Director Karen Beyer proposed that fewer proctors be brought back to save the expense, but Saucon Valley High School Principal Curtis Dietrich and Thomas Gorr, the district's director of campus operations, said the proctors are needed to maintain safety in the high school, which does not have the same level of electronic security as the middle school.

"They really do provide a valuable service to the district, particularly in the high school," Gorr said.

The board is expected to discuss the budget again during its committee meeting Monday, and could adopt a final budget during its June 27 business meeting.